Paul- they are very lean and mild, however it needs to be cooked properly to avoid being tough. The strong taste in mutton or lamb is from lanolin. Lanolin is found primarily in wool. As these American Blackbelly are hair sheep (no wool) they lack the strong taste that many wool breeds can have.
Their meat is very close to the same taste as Bighorn sheep. It goes over very well in our house, and with our customers.
When we butcher this fall, I can give you a pack to try.
They are low maintenance and do very well on marginal pastures and forage. They are used for pasture rejuvenation (removing buck brush), for meat, for training dogs and cutting horses, and for the trophy hunting market. They are listed under SCI as Corsican rams.
